In Pennsylvania, methods for finding Bigfoot

ASSOCIATED PRESS

June 17, 2013 12:01 AM

ASSOCIATED PRESS

June 17, 2013 12:01 AM

JOHNSTOWN -- There are many names given to this cross-cultural phenomenon: In Asian countries, it's Gin-Sung; Wendigo in Algonquian; Canadians call it Sasquatch; for years, Bigfoot has crept into bedtime lore from around the world -- even in Somerset County.

On May 14, Paint Township police were called to investigate a set of tracks that the caller, John Winesickle, claimed to have been made by the giant yet elusive creature. As with all these types of discoveries, the truth was anticlimactic -- they were simply black bear tracks.

But Bigfoot investigators said it takes a good amount of hairy legwork to deem a case closed.

"A lot of things need to be looked at before you say something's unidentifiable," said Stan Gordon, a paranormal investigator who's been researching sightings throughout the state for nearly 54 years.

People like Gordon are typically brought in by police -- Ghostbusters style -- to employ expertise that the cops just don't have. They take the claimants seriously and police can return their focus to crimes. According to Eric Altman, president of the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society, the Pennsylvania Game Commission's official stance is that Bigfoot does not exist. With little official recourse or support, it's all up to organizations like Altman's to bring Bigfoot out into the open.

They gather details about the sighting such as the date and time as well as environmental and weather conditions. Gordon said footprints can be skewed by heavy rain. Altman estimated about 90 percent of the cases they respond to end up being a common creature that was simply misidentified. Gordon said the most common mistake is Winesickle's -- large bear tracks mistaken for something more mysterious.